Healthcare summit : 2nd half
The first half came to an end. The President called for a break and all went away. The President was very good in thwarting away the Republicans’ point after point, like a good keeper guarding his post. But it was bound to crumble and it nearly did, till a Republican made a serious blunder…
There were a slight delay because there was a vote in the House of Representatives. When it began, everything seemed to go back to normal. The Republicans carried on pounding. After the break they concentrated on the mandate. Surprisingly, later on, the unelected leader of the progressives, Governor Howard Dean said that this is okay with the Republicans!
There was a hint of a Democratic fight when one of the politicians (sorry I cannot remember the name) came up with the idea of a rope. He said that cutting the bill in parts was as good as throwing a 10-yard rope to a shipwreck victim 50 yards away.
But he was immediately followed by Senator Chuck Grassley, who was vicious. Man, he tore the Democrats apart. He went through some grievances of his constituents. This was almost like an art as he did it without really crossing the line. Here I thought the Democrats were done. Even the President seemed to be going to crack at anytime.
Then came House Minority leader John Boehner. If he saw the exchange between Dylan Ratigan and Representative Joe Wilson, he would have know never to make the claim that the US has the best health-care in the world. He would never have said that the US healthcare system just needs tweaking and not overhaul. He would have not cooked up that the bill is going to fund abortion, nor exaggerate the effects of tort reform. After him, it was downhill all the way. The Republican body language would tell you that.
After a light slap on Leader Boehner’s ridiculous comments, Senator Dick Durban became of the first in line to tear the Republicans apart. He slammed the point of tort reform, saying that it would save $55 billion in 10 years, considered minimal savings in a system that costs $2.5 trillion yearly. He ridiculed the ridiculed the plan for having a plan that only covers 3 million people. He also made the pint about the need of a mandate, as it would increase the pool of people which would drive healthcare costs down.
It was very clear that a comeback was in sight. Even Senator McCain, who made one of the best points in the first half, made an error when it comes to reconciliation. He claimed that the public was not in favor. I felt that that was weak-sauce as people really do not care how you get it done as long as it is beneficial.
Senator John Barosso then had a touching story to tell. He said that all doctors were given a stethoscope. It was to listen for medical matters, but also used to listen. However, he too was one of the bumbling Republicans when he claimed that there should only be catastrophic only plans. He even said that Congress should have that plan and that people should eat less, not smoke or drink.
After being slammed by the President, Senator Henry Waxman ran him down. Amongst the Democrats, he was the toughest Senator. He slammed Senator Barosso by asking him what made him think that people would be able to afford for catastrophic only healthcare. He also rebutted Republicans claim that very little people wanted the Democratic healthcare by saying less people wanted their plan.
The next prominent moment happened when Senator Roskam delivered a very frank exchange with the President. I do agree with him that the session was was out to get the Republicans’ votes rather than work with them. He also made the defense of the fact that the Republican plan only covers 3 million by saying that covering 3 million people well was better than covering 30 million more expensively.
Senator Chris Dodd too put on strong points after this. He was nonsensical in the first “half.” I do agree with him that coverage of Americans were crucial, not having so many people being left uninsured.
The most mean person in the room had to be Leader Nancy Pelosi. The Republicans met their tough match! She was the most damning. She tore apart all the fallacies of the Republican but even this partisan wing-nut still paid homage to Senator Tom Coburn’s ideas.
What is sad though was that it took 7 ½ hours for the public option to be mentioned. No one else dared to mention it. And did it have to be Leader Pelosi to mention it? Come on.
President Obama then delivered the closing arguments, after which he shook the hands of Leaders McConnell and Boehner. Leader Boehner was visibly down, he could tell he was beat. Overall, I think the Democrats looked better on television and President Obama really showed his brilliance and mettle, but the “Man of the Match” was Senator Coburn.
